UK PM race: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss wins cabinet backing as voting begins to elect new Conservative leader

Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi joined other luminaries of Boris Johnson’s cabinet in backing the foreign secretary against Rishi Sunak

Both contenders stressed unity aware the opposition Labour Party is high in the polls amid the economic crisis and political chaos from Johnson’s exit

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British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss cheers prior to the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final football match between England and Germany at Wembley stadium on Sunday. Photo/AFP

Published: 8:23pm, 1 Aug 2022Updated: 8:29pm, 1 Aug 2022

British Conservative front runner Liz Truss won another heavyweight endorsement on Monday as Tory members began a month of voting to decide the next occupant of 10 Downing Street.

Her lagging rival Rishi Sunak vied to make up lost ground with a plan for future tax cuts – and potentially to fund a future women’s football World Cup in Britain after England’s “Lionesses” won the European championship.

Truss attended Sunday’s final against Germany, and the first victory by any England football team in a major tournament since 1966 wiped Sunak’s long-term tax slashing plan off all the front pages except The Daily Telegraph.

The Conservative Party contenders will be going head to head later on Monday in a members’ hustings, in the southwestern city of Exeter – the second of 12 such events before the winner is announced on September 5.

Sunak, a polished debater, needs to recapture momentum after Truss steamed into a strong polling lead on a platform of immediate tax cuts to address Britain’s worst cost-of-living crisis in generations.